12 Reasons Kim Kardashian West Is Actually A Role Model

This past weekend, Kim Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint by two armed men dressed as police officers in her hotel room in Paris, where she was attending Fashion Week. According to TMZ, Kim was bound and gagged in the bathroom while the men stole $10 million worth of jewelry from her. Although she hasn’t yet made an official statement, sources say that Kim was badly shaken from the robbery, and she immediately left Paris on a private jet to meet up with husband Kanye West in New York. Being robbed is terrifying enough as it is – being trapped in a hotel room and held at gunpoint in a foreign country is horrifying, and something that none of us want to go through. Kim’s experience sounds absolutely awful, and you would think that even her slimiest haters would feel a little sorry for her.

Except you would be wrong. Because if there’s one thing that we can be sure of in this world, it’s that a disturbing amount of you will furiously hate Kim Kardashian West no matter what. So many of you have put so much of your energy into hating Kim and the rest of the Kardashians that even when something like this happens, you can only think of gross things to say.

Since the reports came out that Kim was robbed, I’ve heard a lot of ridiculous things being said on social media and on the news. Here are only a few examples:

Kim deserved to be robbed because she is a waste of life and she’s a slut and one time, years ago, she made a sex tape and she can NEVER be forgiven for that because it is UNFORGIVABLE.

Kim deserved to be robbed because who the eff carries around 10 million dollars worth of jewelry? If you’re that wealthy, you DESERVE to be held at gunpoint, it’s common knowledge.

Kim wasn’t actually robbed, this whole thing was set up because Kanye West is in millions of dollars of debt and so, somehow, this fake robbery is going to get him out of debt. No, it doesn’t matter that Kim makes millions of dollars each day off of her app and her game alone, she had to stage an elaborate robbery in Paris that included Kanye walking out of a concert in New York and Kim fleeing the country in the middle of the night because that was the only possible way they could make up the money.

These are all…. insane.

Listen, you have every right to dislike Kim Kardashian West and the rest of the Kardashian/Jenner clan. They have strong personalities and are in the spotlight a lot and they certainly aren’t for everyone! And they don’t have to be. You don’t have to be a fan of Kim, you don’t need to find her attractive, and you don’t need to read news stories about her. Kim and her sisters and the various members of their group have definitely done some questionable things during their time of fame. But why – serious question here – why do you have to actively hate her so much that you put so much of (wasted) energy into bashing her, her family, and anyone who likes them?

I mean, call me crazy, but I think it’s all sorts of messed up that Kim can be robbed at gunpoint, and many of you can’t even muster one tiny feeling of empathy. Instead, you’re making fun of her, finding every reason to blame her for the crime, and acting as if she deserved it. Why? Because she’s naked a lot? Because she likes attention? Because you don’t personally understand why she’s famous? Because you feel the need to slut shame her because you can’t stand the way she owns her sexuality? Because she has a lot of money? I truly do not get it.

I have never understand, and probably will never understand, the absolute rage directed towards the Kardashian/Jenners. I truly feel like a lot of you would be a whole lot happier with yourselves and your lives if you just relaxed and let them do their thing and didn’t pay much attention to it. And maybe, just maybe, you could calm down enough to realize they aren’t even that bad. In fact, in some ways, you could even call Kim a role model.

That statement alone is known to make even the most rational people I know absolutely lose their minds. I’ve gotten into many a stupid fight with people while innocently defending the Kardashians. Like I said before, I’m not saying they’re perfect. They definitely aren’t! They love to be famous and will do anything to keep that fame, they are definitely materialistic and have an unhealthy obsession with money, and they have a history of doings some offensive things out of ignorance. No, Kim isn’t a role model 100 percent of the time. And no, she doesn’t have to be your role model. But I think there are some things she does that are role model status, and I would REALLY like you to hear me out before you decide I’m an idiot because my opinion dares to be different than yours. Okay? Let’s try it!

1. Kim is a smart business woman.

The number one complaint I hear whenever someone is whining about their hatred of the Kardashian/Jenners is: “They’re famous for doing NOTHING. Why are they famous? They don’t have any talent!” Um, okay, except they do. They’re businesswomen, and they might not look the way you want business people to look, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that they know what they’re doing. In an industry where overexposure is a constant threat and celebrities go on and off the A-list in a blink of an eye, here’s a group of people keeping themselves relevant for years. They know how to keep all of you interested, even those of you who “aren’t interested” but comment on the articles anyway because you don’t know how Facebook engagement tactics work.

They also know how to make money. When Kim first released her Kimojis, she was earningone million dollars per minute. She appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine (a big achievement for a woman!) after making $160 million off of her game, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. These are just two examples of things Kim has done to make money in the last few years, and they already equal more money than many of us will ever see. Of course, money does not equal role model status, but the fact that she knows how to keep you interested, even when you “hate” her, and has kept herself relevant “without” talent, really shows something.

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Sep 28, 2016 at 2:31pm PDT

A lot of the hatred towards Kim has to do with slut shaming. People can’t stand that Kim first gained fame off of her sex tape – despite the fact that many, many people had no trouble watching it. People can’t stand that Kim is known for her butt. They hate that she posts pictures where she’s practically naked and does nude shoots and wears sheer shirts. People lose their minds when Kim owns her sexuality, but no one has any problem when someone they like does the same. Rage at me for being a feminist all you want, but it’s just slut-shaming and it only makes me think that you’re threatened.

3. She makes no apologies, which shows a confidence more people should have.

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Aug 19, 2016 at 2:48pm PDT

I hate to break it to everyone on the Internet leaving Kim Insta comments about how she looks fat and those of you commenting on Cosmo articles saying “NO ONE CARES ABOUT KIM KARDASHIAN,” but she literally doesn’t care what you think of her. I see more backlash towards Kim than do towards most other celebrities, and it hasn’t brought her down yet (or maybe it has, and we just haven’t seen it). No matter how many times you call her fat and slutty and gross and boring and “distasteful,” Kim continues to do what she wants, posts what she wants, and says what she wants. There’s something really great about that kind of quality.

4. She’s actually hilarious.

Yes, Kim can be really ditzy about a lot of things, and a lot of the time, it’s enough to make you roll your eyes forever. But Kim is actually really, really funny. Read almost any of her tweets, especially the old ones, and you’ll cry from laughing. She’s vain, sure, but she also can make fun of herself – she even put out phone cases with her crying face on them. Watch their show, and you’ll see that she’s weirdly hysterical. If you take a deep breath and put the hate aside for a second, you can see it.

5. She’s honest in a different way.

I’m not gong to sit here and pretend that Keeping Up With The Kardashians is real. It’s not. So much of that show is staged that it can’t really be called a reality show. And of course Kim does certain things to manipulate the media and get more for herself – but, uh, doesn’t every celebrity? I will forever be convinced that Kim’s marriage to Kris Humphries was a sham and no one can tell me otherwise. But aside from the lies surrounding her reality show and parts of her image, which are standard in Hollywood, Kim is pretty honest about other things. She shares her weight struggles with the world, even knowing that a lot of people are going to say worse things about her body than she could ever think herself. She has opened up about pregnancy in a refreshingly truthful way most celebrities wouldn’t do. And she gets excited when meeting certain stars, instead of acting ~too cool.

6. She’s very family oriented.

There’s one thing about KUWTK that I don’t think is fake, and that’s the fierce family loyalty that group of people has for each other. Kim is still closest to her sisters and her mom, and she has always stood by Caitlyn Jenner’s side, even when things were tough. She is constantly showing off her kids on Snapchat (even though she uses a very weird breathy voice when talking to North that I will never stop making fun of). She loves her family! You don’t see that in a lot of people.

Do I really need to remind you about the Taylor Swift Snapchat situation? Kim revealed to the world that Taylor was being a total hypocrite, and she didn’t give one eff while doing it. It was… amazing. I don’t know what else to say. It’s kind of great to see someone who isn’t afraid to speak up!

8. She knows how to defend herself and her family.

People obviously make fun of Kim all the time. Everyone has something to say about her and her family and her way of life. Kim is never afraid to defend herself. She’s called out other celebrities for saying nasty things about her when it wasn’t even warranted. She fires back at critics about her weight in posts on her app and her blog and also on the show and in interviews. She doesn’t just sit back and let people say whatever they want all the time, which I think is an admirable quality in a person.

9. She doesn’t have a party girl image, despite her entourage.

Being famous comes with a lot of opportunities to do drugs and drink alcohol and party all the time. It’s much easier than anyone thinks it is (I don’t know this because I am not and never will be famous, but I can assume from an outsider’s perspective!!). Kim has been very famous for a very long time and has had every opportunity to totally mess up in front of the world and become addicted to drugs or drinking or doing other crappy things like that. She hasn’t. She barely even parties or drinks. Her worst offense, to a lot of you, is wearing revealing clothing – so much so that you don’t even notice that she barely does anything else. If I were a parent, I’d rather my daughter look up to someone who shows off her cleavage than someone who does drugs. Just saying.

10. She’s real about body image issues.

Like I said before, Kim is really honest about certain things, and one of those things is her weight and her body. Kim has always struggled with her weight, which is something you know if you follow her on social media or have watched even one episode of KUWTK. She’s confident, but she’s also really insecure a lot of the time. Kim talks about her body the way your friend would – sometimes she puts herself down in front of everyone, sometimes she blames someone else (like her tiny daughter) for posting an old picture where she’s happy with how she looks when everyone knows she did it. She has never sugarcoated how hard she works to lose weight and get in shape, even when other stars are like, “Oh, I just do Pilates once a week and drink green juice in the morning! I love Shake Shack!”

It’s not that you should want girls to struggle with their weight – you definitely shouldn’t. But you also want girls to know that it’s okay to not feel 100 percent happy with yourself all the time, if that makes sense. Kim is confident, but she has her moments where she’s unhappy, and she’s truthful about that. I think that’s pretty awesome.

11. She’s very professional and she’s a nice person, generally.

I don’t know Kim personally, obviously. If I did, I think my life would be a lot cooler than it is. But I work in an industry where a lot of people I know or have spoken to have either met or worked with Kim, and I met her myself briefly. In my short experiences with Kim, I found her to be professional and really, genuinely nice. I’ve met a decent amount of celebrities, and I can tell you that it’s pretty clear when they’re being fake nice, and clear when they’re being real nice. Kim is real nice.

I’ve heard from makeup artist, hairdressers, stylists, journalists, editors, publicists, and more that Kim is great to work with and is always professional and businesslike. This is because she’s a smart businesswoman, and that, to me, is definitely role model worthy.

12. She refuses to be anything less than herself.

My favorite thing about Kim is that she is unapologetically herself. Like I said – she doesn’t care what you think! She is herself, all the time, even when people say horribly mean things like they wish she would die and that she deserves to be robbed at gunpoint because she dared to own expensive jewelry. She has never changed herself to be more likeable to a large part of the population, and I think that’s awesome, because a lot of people would. And honestly, I think that’s a big reason people don’t like her – because she won’t change and she won’t disappear, no matter how much they scream at people about how they wish she would go away. More people should be like that. For real.

How do you feel about Kim Kardashian West? Do you agree with me or disagree? Tell me in the comments.